Three incidents of theft in broad daylight were reported at a residential society on VIP Road where cash and jewellery worth more than Rs 20 lakh were stolen. The thieves broke open the locks to enter the houses when the owners were away for work. Police have registered cases against unknown persons and investigation is on.

Pankaj Chhib,resident of flat number B-204 of the Nirmal Chhaya Society,who works as a HDFC branch manager in Dharampur (Himachal Pradesh),said that on Wednesday,while he was away for work,his children discovered on returning home after school that the lock of the house was broken and the entire place was ransacked. He returned home to find that Rs 1.5 lakh cash,jewellery and utensils were missing. The total loot was worth Rs 20 lakh,he alleged.

In a separate incident,Navtej Singh returned home to find a similar scenario and alleged that he had been robbed of Rs 48,000 and jewellery while Harish Batra,a resident of flat 15-B-304,said that thieves stole several thousand rupees from his flat.

Meanwhile,there is an air of unease and insecurity in the society after the spate of thefts. Residents have alleged that they are paying Rs 3,000 for maintenance and security but are hardly getting any facilities in return. The CCTV cameras dont work and there are not adequate security provisions in the society,they said,demanding a probe against the builders.